What Ethical Principles Were Violated In The Tuskegee

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Tuskegee Film Reflection Allison Elliott California Baptist University HSC210-B Ethics in Healthcare Professor Lindsay Fahnestock April 4, 2023 What ethical principles were violated in the Tuskegee Syphilis Study? The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment violated ethical principles of Fidelity, respect for rights and dignity, coercion, justice, integrity, beneficence, benefits, and burdens. The experiment was conducted without the informed consent of participants, who were largely poor and uneducated African American men. They were not told about their diagnosis or given appropriate treatment, even after penicillin became widely available as an effective cure for syphilis. In our textbook, Health Care Ethics: Critical Issues for the 21st Century, …show more content…

If randomization or placebos are used, you can withdraw at any time. Nothing should be concealed, even if it is “harmless” (Baillie et al., 2013, p.302). Overall, the Tuskegee Syphilis Study violated numerous ethical principles, including informed consent, respect for autonomy, and the dignity of participants. In addition, autonomy and paternalism become an issue in caring for individuals who do not have access. The physician is so impacted that they have little time to respect the autonomy and ensure the patient’s rights are upheld, such as in the case of the Tuskegee Syphilis …show more content…

The likelihood of another Tuskegee study being done in the future has decreased significantly. The Tuskegee study would not be possible today, and it would be a grave mistake if this were to happen again or something more harmful; there is a reason why we need to protect the rights of Individuals in scientific experiments. As long as science values discovery, there will be the temptation to seek knowledge. Without doing as little unethical research as possible, there will be no way to get around censorship and